Have you ever wondered how we set our budgets and decide where the money goes?
The answer lies in our Council Plan which directs what we should be prioritising and how to make improvements – bearing in mind the increasing limited funding settlements we receive from central government.
The Council Plan for 2019-22 has just been reviewed and now approved by our Executive Board.
It contains 6 priorities for the coming months:
- Developing the economy
- Ensuring a modern and resilient Council
- Ensuring everyone is safe
- Improving secondary education
- Improving the environment
- Promoting good health and well-being
“Smaller and very different organisation”
Given the cuts we continue to face we have no choice but to continue to make radical decisions about the range and level of services that we provide. As an organisation we will be a smaller and very different organisation in the future. We will, however, continue to strive to improve certain services but some of our services will be provided at a reduced standard, some may be provided by other people and some services will stop.
We review the Plan annually and councillors last year said they wanted clearer and more focused objectives for each of our themes As a result we now have 14 objectives which are tightly defined with clear activities that will be the main focus of work over the next 12 months.
The Plan is a living document which is subject to regular review throughout its life to reflect any changes in the local, regional and national context. It also needs to consider reviews of all the supporting plans and strategies that underpin it, as well as reviews of the Wrexham Public Service Board’s Well-being Plan.
Cllr Mark Pritchard, Leader of the Council, who presented the report, said: “We all have priorities. There’s no getting around the fact that what we do over the coming twelve months will not please everyone. But we have to take into account the pressing needs of the elderly, the young and the vulnerable, the future of Wrexham’s economy and our environment. I believe this Plan is a very accurate reflection of where we currently are with the financial pressures we continually find ourselves under. I would like to thank everyone who has been involved in bringing this plan up to date.”
You can check out the Council Plan and Executive Board report here.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT FOSTERING
